Iowa-ISU monster breakdown

IOWA CITY - Iowa State forward Georges Niang sat next to his coach, Fred Hoiberg, last December and delivered a salvo that still echoes throughout the state nearly a year later.

'I think the rivalry is back,” Niang said. 'Both teams are great teams for the state of Iowa, but at the end of the day we all know it's a Cyclone state.”

In the wake of a 85-82 thriller at Hilton Coliseum, the ever-modest Hoiberg was visibly uncomfortable with Niang's bravado and simply uttered, 'That's nice, Georges.”

That phrase has became a talking point of sorts in Iowa City, although not publicly among Iowa players. Iowa senior Aaron White wouldn't get goaded into a discussion about Niang's comments, saying, 'I'm not hyping into that.”

'You've got to be motivated to walk into the building,” White said after the Hawkeyes' win against Alcorn State on Tuesday. 'I'll be motivated (Wednesday) when we introduce them. It doesn't take much to fire me up. Obviously, that's for the fans, that riles them up. That's probably why he did it. For us we know what it is, and we've got to take care of business.”

Both teams expect an intense game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena between No. 13 Iowa State (6-1) and Iowa (8-2). BTN televises the action at 7 p.m.

'I think the game is always played at an incredibly high intensity level, which you would expect,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. 'The crowd, whether it's here or there, is really into it. The players are locked in. Intensity level is very high, and that's what I expect on Friday.”

Here is a breakdown of key areas in Friday's Iowa-Iowa State basketball game:

1. Back court.

Iowa State boasts a trio of top-notch players in the back court. Sophomore Monte Morris ranks among the nation's best pure point guards. He averages 10.3 points and a Big 12-high 5.9 assists. He also takes care of the ball, ranking third nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio at 6.8. Iowa State suspended senior transfer Bryce Dejean-Jones on Thursday, severely limiting the Cyclones' backcourt offense. Dejean-Jones averages 17.1 points and 6.9 rebounds. But perhaps his most impressive statistic is he leads the Big 12 in shooting percentage (56.8). Shooting guard Naz Long, a junior, averages 11.6 points and ranks fourth in Big 12 3-pointers per game (2.7). Sophomore Matt Thomas (7.2 ppg) is likely to start for Iowa State.

Morris is the player who runs the show on offense.

'He's obviously a terrific player,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said of Morris. 'The ultimate point guard. He engineers victory in a big way. I think that's what impresses me. There's times he gets 15, and there's times he gets six. But he's going to be up in the assist area and down in the turnover area because he knows how to win.”

Iowa's back court right now looks for consistency. Juniors Mike Gesell (6.0 ppg, 3.8 apg) and Anthony Clemmons (6.3, 2.2 rpg) are point guards sharing both backcourt spots. Gesell, who led the Big Ten in assist-to-turnover ratio, produced the best game of his career with 16 points at North Carolina. Clemmons is a strong defender who shoots at a 37.5 percent clip. Traditional shooting guards Josh Oglesby (4.1 ppg) and Peter Jok (4.6 ppg) have struggled mightily from 3-point range, combining for 17 of 68. Oglesby's all-around game is sound, but Iowa needs him to revert to last year, when he hit 40 percent from 3-point range.

'What will upset me is if the rest of their game deteriorates,” McCaffery said. 'You look at Josh Oglesby's line the other night: six rebounds, three assists, no turns. You think about one of the biggest plays of the Carolina game, he drops in, steals the ball, dribbles it, throws it to Gabe (Olaseni) for a monster dunk in transition. That's Josh Oglesby, he's a really good basketball player. When he's making shots, obviously he's better.”

Advantage: Iowa State

2. Frontcourt.

Iowa State lacks height at both forward slots (at least until Jameel McKay becomes eligible next week), but the starters are dynamic. Junior Georges Niang (6-foot-8) averages a team-high 18 points and grabs 6.6 rebounds along with 4.3 assists. He's also prolific from the free-throw line at 92.1 percent. Niang leads the Big 12 in scoring and is nominated for virtually every national award. Senior Dustin Hogue (6-6) shoots 58.2 percent from the floor and puts up 11.6 points. Daniel Edozie (6-8) and Abdel Nader (6-6) combine for 7.7 points a game off the bench.

'I've never seen the guy have a bad game,” McCaffery said of Niang. 'I don't know that I could sit here and say, ‘Boy he's playing so much better.' To me he's always been great. He can score, he can pass, he can rebound, he's got feel, he plays well late, he makes his free throws, he's shooting the 3 pretty well and that sets up his drive. He's handling the ball as well as anybody on the floor. So I just think you're seeing a guy who's in his third year, he's very confident in himself, he's confident in his system. Fred (Hoiberg) uses him well. They run everything through him. He's responsible for over 30 percent of their points. I've always been impressed with him. He's got a great court demeanor, and he's a great competitor.”

Iowa possesses one of the Big Ten's best front courts. Senior Aaron White (6-9) has scored 1,457 points and ranks 15th in Iowa history. He averages 15.6 points and 7.1 rebounds and ranks first nationally (minimum 150 points) for percentage points from the free-throw line at 41 percent. Junior Jarrod Uthoff (6-9) is an inside-outside player and averages 11.3 points and 6.0 boards. Iowa's center combination of Adam Woodbury (7-1) and Gabe Olaseni (6-10) pair for 17 points and 12.1 rebounds a game. Freshman Dom Uhl (6-8) scored 10 points on Tuesday.

'There's times when I think we need to play (Olaseni) and Woody together and just sort of rotate those four guys,” McCaffery said. 'That's going to happen at some point, especially now. If you look at how (Olaseni is) playing, if you look at the numbers he's putting up, the consistency with which he's playing, he deserves to play more. At the same time, he's playing at an incredibly high intensity level. So we've got to be careful not to play him at too many minutes. He's just real comfortable now, which is great to see.”

Iowa's length can work to its advantage or it can be a disadvantage, McCaffery said.

'I think we've got some length, they've got some speed and quickness and they're shooting the ball better; certainly the numbers bear that out,” he said. 'So there's a lot of other factors involved. I think our length can be a factor in every game, but there's a flip side to that. They can downshift and be really, really quick.”

Advantage: Iowa

3. Intangibles/other.

Only once in the last 11 games between the instate rivals has the visiting team come out victorious. Four years ago, Iowa State rallied to beat Iowa 75-72 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Last year's 85-82 ISU win at Hilton Coliseum marked the first time since 1987 the teams faced off as ranked opponents. Iowa led by 10 points in the second half and by five with under two minutes to play. It was an epic comeback/collapse depending on your perspective.

This year, Iowa State has yet to play in a true road venue and this is Iowa's first game in front of a packed home crowd. The team that handles the atmosphere best will win.

'Going in there, it's an extremely hostile environment,” Iowa State Coach Fred Hoiberg said. 'They're playing great basketball right now, and it's an excellent team that's really clicking and playing with a great deal of confidence. So we're going to have to go in there and hopefully, first and foremost, get off to a great start and try to slow them down in transition. It's going to be a very difficult to keep them off the glass, but we're going to have to do a good job.”

Both teams have had positive and negative experiences in high-profile games this year. Iowa dropped two games in New York City as part of the 2K Classic then produced a tough, stunning upset at North Carolina. Iowa State lost to Maryland in Kansas City but then blew out ranked Arkansas at Hilton Coliseum.

Iowa State still is building a cohesive team, and losing Dejean-Jones will hurt. ISU has six players averaging more than 21 minutes a game and then three others between 11 and 13 minutes. The Hawkeyes have seven who average more than 17 and three more who play more than 11.

Let's face it: while both teams have strong conference rivalries (ISU vs. Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State; Iowa vs. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois), this is the basketball series that energizes the fans bases like no other.

'That game is always a blast,” Iowa point guard Mike Gesell said. 'The arena is going to be rocking. They're a very good team. We always match up well. It's a rivalry game. This is the kind of games you play college basketball for.”

Advantage: Iowa

KEY MATCHUP

Aaron White vs. Georges Niang. Both are tough, hard-nosed, athletic post competitors who ranked among the best in the country at their positions. Niang leads the Big 12 in scoring. In last year's game, White scored 25 points and grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds against the Cyclones. Niang scored 25 points and had five assists and put up a reverse layup that gave the Cyclones their final lead with 18 seconds left.

'Niang is one of the better post players in the country, footwork, skillwise ...,” White said.

NO DEJEAN-JONES

Iowa State guard Bryce Dejean-Jones was suspended for one game by Coach Fred Hoiberg after he initially was arrested for drug and noise violations. The drug charge was dropped but Hoiberg suspended the star anyway.

As for Iowa, its plans were not altered by Dejean-Jones' absence.

'Our preparation is going to be exactly the same no matter what,” McCaffery said.

KEY STATISTICS

SCORING/OPP:

Iowa 72.0/54.9; ISU 83.6/68.3

FG%/OPP FG%:

Iowa 42.3/33.7; ISU 49.4/43.2

3PT%/OPP 3PT%:

Iowa 29.9/25.7; ISU 35.7/35.2

FT%:

Iowa 75.0; ISU 75.5

LIKELY STARTERS

Iowa:

G Mike Gesell (6-2); G Anthony Clemmons (6-2); F Jarrod Uthoff (6-9); F Aaron White (6-9); C Adam Woodbury (7-1)

Iowa State:

G Monte Morris (6-2); G Naz Long (6-4); G Matt Thomas (6-4); F Dustin Hogue (6-6); F Georges Niang (6-8)

KEY RESERVES

Iowa

: C Gabe Olaseni (6-10); G Josh Oglesby (6-6); G Peter Jok (6-6); G Trey Dickerson (6-1); F Dominique Uhl (6-9)

Iowa State:

F Daniel Edozie (6-8); F Abdel Nader (6-6)

PREDICTION

Iowa State is the best team Iowa has faced this year and has so many offensive weapons. The Cyclones hit 35.7 percent of their 3-point shots, while Iowa shoots 25.7 percent from 3-point range. That's a pivotal statistic that Iowa can overcome - if Josh Oglesby reverts to his junior-year form.

Both teams like to run in transition, but Iowa State can score against any style of play. The Cyclones rank fourth nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.7) and assist on 64.7 of their field goals. Sometimes it's just as simple as finding the open shooter on the wing.

ISU will miss Dejean-Jones and its depth will be stretched to its limit. Iowa's defense waned late last year, but the Hawkeyes so far have been diligent. Only one team has scored more than 69 points (Texas) and six of Iowa's nine opponents have scored fewer than 60 points, including North Carolina. Iowa allows opponents to make just 33.7 percent of their shots, while Iowa State opponents make 43.2 percent.

Iowa has a clear size advantage in the post, with its four primary players all standing taller than 6-foot-9, while only no current primary Cyclone stands that tall. ISU scores at a much better clip (49.4 percent to 42.3), but Iowa averages one more rebound, two more steals and three more blocked shots per game.

Home-court advantage matters in this series and without Dejean-Jones, it might be too much for Iowa State to overcome.

Projection: Iowa 77, Iowa State 72

l Comments: (319) 339-3169; scott.dochterman@thegazette.com